EVENTS: May 2005

Teacher-Training Workshops and Student Enrichment Seminars at the American Corner, Plovdiv University

Guest Lecturer:
Dr. Ryan James, American Council for English Studies; Budapest, Hungary
Coordinator:
Ronda Critchlow ELF at PU

Event 1
Time: 10:30am-12pm
Topic: "The American Educational System: Background and Current Issues"
Place: Plovdiv University (New Building); Boulevard Bulgaria 236; American Corner, Room 501; 5th floor

Event 2
Time: 1:30pm-3pm
Topic: "Uses of American Slang and Other Expressions: What's Up With That?"
Place: Plovdiv University (New Building); Boulevard Bulgaria 236; American Corner, Room 501; 5th floor

Event 3
Time: 4pm-6pm
Topic: "One Picture Is Worth 100 English Lessons"
Place: Oxford University Press, 34 Joakim Gruev St., Plovdiv

Event 4
Time: 10-12pm
Topic: "Developing Your Curriculum: How to Enhance Learning with Authentic Materials That Will Motivate Student Learning"
Place: Plovdiv University (New Building); Boulevard Bulgaria 236; American Corner, Room 501; 5th floor

Event 5
Time: 1:30pm-3pm
Topic: "Academic vs. Social English: How to Use and Teach the Differences"
Place: Plovdiv University (New Building); Boulevard Bulgaria 236; American Corner, Room 501; 5th floor

Event 6
Time: 4pm-6pm
Topic: "The Teacher as Researcher in the Classroom: Are Your Students Learning What You Think You Are Teaching?"
Place: Plovdiv University (New Building); Boulevard Bulgaria 236; American Corner, Room 501; 5th floor

"From Budapest to Bulgaria - An Intercultural Exchange Promoting Sound Educational Practices in English Language Teaching"
Professor at the American Council for English Studies in Budapest, Hungary, Dr. Ryan James was invited by the Junior English Language Fellow in Bulgaria, Ronda Critchlow, to conduct teacher-training workshops and student seminars in Plovdiv and Sofia, Bulgaria. On May 5th and 9th, 2005, Dr. James gave lectures and interactive workshops on topics that were specifically highlighted by university faculty as areas of critical need and interest for both teachers and students: Background and current issues in the American educational system, Uses of American slang and other expressions, Use of authentic materials in the classroom, How to enhance learning by developing curriculum that will motivate students, Academic vs. social English: How to use and teach the differences, and student assessment. The audience for Dr. James' workshops & seminars at the University of Plovdiv comprised of over 100 participants including university faculty, primary and secondary teachers, students, and the Peace Corps. Further, during his stay in Bulgaria, Dr. James traveled with Ms. Critchlow to present at the Bulgarian English Teacher's Association Conference on May 7-8, 2005, where he delivered a lecture entitled: "The Teacher as Researcher in the Classroom: Are Your Students Learning What You Think You Are Teaching?" Both student and teacher participants provided enthusiastic feedback concerning Dr. James' lectures expressing that his seminars were not only timely, but also caused them to think critically about they way they approach learning and teaching English in a foreign language context.

"Revamping Writing Instruction in the Balkans to Encourage Critical thinking and Cognitive Applications"
Junior English Language Fellow in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Ronda Critchlow, presented at the 14th National Bulgarian English Teacher's Association Conference on May 7-8, 2005, hosted by the Departments of Foreign Language Teaching and Foreign Languages and Literatures at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria. Over 170 participants attended this conference, which welcomed speakers and attendees from the United Kingdom, the United States, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece, to name a few. Ms. Critchlow's seminar, "Cognitive Approaches to Teaching Writing", examined writing as a knowledge transforming process, where students actively construct new knowledge by combining both content and discourse knowledge. Her presentation highlighted cognitive orientations to teaching writing, the stages of the writing-process, research-based cognitive processes, and intellectual diversities in writing. The seminar also focused on a critical stage of the writing process, revision, and a communicative technique that encourages students to consider their audience as writers known as peer-editing. This technique is not used in Bulgarian writing courses, but Ms. Critchlow attempted to provide relevant experience and evidence to encourage teachers to incorporate this strategy in their writing courses. In so doing, students would be engaged in critical thinking and practice in providing analytical feedback, thus enabling them to be more aware of grammatical, mechanical, organizational, and usage errors in order to avoid them in their own writing.